The 4 Ps every business needs

You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again: this year has been rough. Businesses in every industry have been rocked to their core.

For many businesses, marketing budgets were cut; events were postponed, and promotions had to be cleverer.

Small businesses were hit the hardest. Many found themselves racing to find solutions that would help retain revenue and save profits.

Many businesses had to reinvent the wheel and the restaurant sector was a prime example. Restaurants had to completely convert their business model once they could no longer allow inside dining.

Other businesses had to reevaluate their products, their pricing, their placement, and their promotions. These are what we call “the 4 Ps” of marketing, or the “marketing mix.” This may have been the first time many of these businesses had to reevaluate such ideas since their conception.

What many businesses don’t know is that these things should be evaluated regularly, even without a yearlong pandemic. There are internal and external factors that are going to impact a business every year. These factors impact a business' product relevance, price efficiency, adequate placement in the market, and the effectiveness of its promotions.

Businesses that understand the marketing mix are always coming out with new services and products. They’re constantly adjusting prices in response to the market. They're also pivoting product or service placement in the market and releasing new promotions.

Understanding your business' product, price, placement, and promotions in the current economic climate will aid you in the discovery of new insights and fresh new solutions.

You might have the right product, but it’s at the wrong price, in the wrong market of buyers, or the promotion may not be enticing enough because your competitor has a better offer. In which case, you might increase your production to lower consumer price and pivot your marketing efforts to a new audience to stay competitive.

After reviewing your 4 Ps, you might find that your product isn’t solving a need for your prospective audience. You might have to reevaluate your product or service and maybe even create a better one.

You might also find that the price is too high for affordability or too low for anyone to take your service seriously. Your product must match the real and perceived value of your audience. You must also take into consideration the way that price competes in the marketplace and your cost to provide that product or service.

After reviewing your product placement strategy, you may decide that your product is in the wrong stores or on the wrong shelf in those stores.

Lastly, an effective promotional strategy determines correct messaging and effective targeting. Your message might not convey the benefit of your service or product well enough. Problems in your promotional strategy will hurt your sales numbers.

The 4 Ps of the marketing mix is so important for an effective marketing strategy. A business should use these concepts to guide their marketing campaigns.

Marketing professionals know this and apply these principles often, but not every business owner has the time to do this.

Call Reeder Media at (760) 723-7319 today to get a free consultation and get the insight you need to grow your business.